"The films this year are the closest I could ever get to experiencing Vancouver in the 1930s to the 1960s without using a time machine," says historian Michael Kluckner, who has curated and will narrate an afternoon of vintage movies from the City of Vancouver Archives.

These archival gems focus on the city’s workforce and industries, including colour film of the Lions Gate Bridge, early commercial aviation from the city airport (that is, YVR), horse-drawn milk delivery wagons in 1940, parades in the 1950s and on-location reporting from the first decade of television. An inadvertently hilarious cameo by the City’s first archivist, Major J.S. Matthews, introduces a promotional film by Imperial Oil on the march of progress in Vancouver and British Columbia.

Pianist Wayne Stewart will provide accompaniment for the movies that were originally produced without sound.

Vancouver at Work

Documenting the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge, early door-to-door milk delivery service, the Greater Vancouver Water District, the production of B.C. Sugar, the Stanley Park Zoo, the Kerrisdale Community Centre, and firefighters at the Stratford Hotel.

Celebrations

Featuring the Shriners, Grey Cup and PNE parades in downtown Vancouver during the 1950s. This theme also features excerpts from a film that highlights the Vancouver International Festival in light of the City’s 75th anniversary in 1961.

Vancouver Promoted

An amateur 1930s documentary produced in tribute to the City of Vancouver. Excerpts include scenes of UBC, the Vancouver airport, the Pattullo Bridge, the fishing industry, Remembrance Day, and the 1939 Royal Visit.